


John and Sherlock – a Relationship in Haiku

by I_read_your_writing_upside_down



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Haiku, M/M, Poetry, Sherlock and John write haiku
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-14
Updated: 2015-04-14
Packaged: 2018-03-22 23:20:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3747307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_read_your_writing_upside_down/pseuds/I_read_your_writing_upside_down
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After HLV, John sees his therapist again. She urges him to talk to the person whose behaviour confuses him or, if talking is impossible, to write to them (John didn’t say who he was talking about).<br/>As can be expected, Sherlock flatly rejects talking or writing. But then he comes across a book with haiku and suddenly discovers that the strict form of these poems makes it possible to say things that have been left unsaid for far too long.</p>
            </blockquote>





	John and Sherlock – a Relationship in Haiku

1\. SH:  
five, seven and five  
syllables: pure symmetry  
John, let’s write haiku  
  
2\. JW:  
Sherlock, I don’t know  
I mean, I’m not a poet  
this makes me nervous  
  
3\. SH:  
just give it a try  
we can recount what happened  
since you first met me  
  
4\. JW:  
but you have to start  
to help me vanquish my fear  
of doing it wrong  
  
5\. SH:  
you’re doing just fine  
relax and use present tense  
there are no more rules  
  
  
 _A Study in Pink  
  
_ 6\. SH:  
the name’s Sherlock Holmes  
221b Baker Street  
see you there tonight  
  
7\. JW:  
whom have I just met?  
who’d want me for a flatmate?  
my head is spinning  
  
8\. SH:  
I offer you life  
nothing more, but nothing less  
than constant danger  
  
9\. JW:  
everyone calls you  
a monster, a psychopath  
I start to doubt you  
  
10\. SH:  
running through London  
the blood pumping through our veins  
the thrill of the chase  
  
  
 _The Blind Banker  
  
_ 11\. JW:  
colleague, not a friend  
I don’t want to get involved  
with a psychopath  
  
12\. SH:  
I can exclude you  
from my investigations  
if that’s what you want  
  
  
 _The Great Game  
  
_ 13\. SH:  
the stars above us  
how could I ever watch them  
without being moved?  
  
14\. JW:  
ripping my clothes off  
in a darkened swimming pool  
now people will talk  
  
15\. SH:  
that thing that you did  
just now, that was very good  
offering your life  
  
  
 _A Scandal in Belgravia  
  
_ 16\. JW:  
John Hamish Watson  
just in case you were looking  
for a baby name  
  
17\. SH:  
making John jealous  
is easy, but why does it  
never seem to work?  
  
  
 _The Hounds of Baskerville  
  
_ 18\. JW:  
trying to look cool  
with your coat collar turned up  
damn, Sherlock, it works  
  
19\. SH:  
conductor of light  
I can’t deduce anything  
without John Watson  
  
  
 _The Reichenbach Fall  
  
_ 20\. JW:  
cuffs linking our hands  
we’ll need to coordinate  
our hands and our hearts  
  
21\. SH:  
hand in hand with you  
jumping in front of a bus  
doesn’t feel that bad  
  
22\. JW:  
he stands on the roof  
ready to end his own life  
why can’t I stop him?  
  
23\. SH:  
Jim Moriarty  
would kill John and all my friends  
if I didn’t jump  
  
24\. JW:  
touching the gravestone  
one more miracle, for me  
Sherlock, don’t be dead  
  
25\. SH:  
behind a tall tree  
I was there when you asked me  
for a miracle  
  
26\. JW:  
I was so alone  
your friendship gave me new life  
how could you leave me?  
  
  
 _The Empty Hearse  
  
_ 27\. SH:  
how I long to write  
a letter to John Watson  
saying: I’m alive  
  
28\. JW:  
life without Sherlock:  
every day more desperate  
why go on living?  
  
29\. SH:  
I had to leave you  
to save you, but doing so  
I almost killed you  
  
30\. JW:  
I never said all  
the things I wanted to say  
and now it’s too late  
  
31\. SH:  
finally back home  
well, I think I’ll surprise John  
he’ll be delighted  
  
32\. JW:  
Sherlock, back from death  
shall I beat him or kiss him  
in front of Mary?  
  
33\. SH:  
I never believed  
it would be so difficult  
to come back to John  
  
34\. JW:  
you were dead, Sherlock  
I was ready to move on  
why did you come back?  
  
35\. SH:  
you were not ready  
you just tried to drive away  
your best memories  
  
36\. JW:  
my worst memories  
not being able to save  
the man I loved most  
  
37\. SH:  
just the two of us  
against the rest of the world  
that’s how it works best  
  
38\. JW:  
why do I shave off  
my moustache, if not for him?  
I’ll just deny it  
  
39\. SH:  
working with Molly  
calling her “John” all the time  
I just can’t help it  
  
40\. JW:  
try to ignore him,  
try to concentrate on work  
fuck, I’m bored to death  
  
41\. SH:  
John is in danger  
how can I save him this time?  
 _I am_ his danger  
  
42\. JW:  
inside a bonfire:  
muffled cries, but no rescue  
I’m going to burn  
  
43\. SH:  
Christ, John is burning  
why does Mary just watch me  
saving her boyfriend  
  
44\. JW:  
I open my eyes  
Sherlock’s face, full of concern  
looking down at me  
  
45\. SH:  
this train is a bomb  
it’s going to kill us both  
in two minute’s time  
  
46\. JW:  
for Christ’s sake, Sherlock,  
why don’t you just turn it off?  
now think of something  
  
47\. SH:  
John, I can’t do it  
I don’t know how. Forgive me  
for letting you down  
  
48\. JW:  
this is not easy  
but of course I forgive you  
my one and only  
  
49\. SH:  
sorry I tricked you  
into saying something nice  
you said such sweet things  
  
  
 _The Sign of Three  
  
_ 50\. JW:  
I need a best man  
Sherlock, will you marry me –  
I mean, be best man?  
  
51\. SH:  
planning a wedding  
What wouldn’t I do for my  
best friend John Watson?  
  
52\. SH:  
red coats, gold buttons  
soldiers in their uniforms  
every girl likes them  
  
53\. JW:  
why am I lying  
on the stairs next to Sherlock  
what happened just now?  
  
54\. SH:  
your hand on my knee  
I’d have loved to go further  
I should have kissed you  
  
55\. JW:  
this night is special  
I feel like touching your knee  
fuck, there’s a client  
  
56\. SH:  
have I just declared  
my eternal love for John  
in front of his wife?  
  
57\. JW:  
you taught me dancing  
behind drawn curtains, but now  
we can’t all three dance  
  
58\. SH:  
no one leaves his best   
friend’s wedding early, but I  
have to leave at once  
  
  
 _His Last Vow  
  
_ 59\. SH:  
back to the drug den  
let me numb all my feelings  
forget about John  
  
60\. JW:  
I dream about you  
every night, but when I wake  
up, I’m still married  
  
61\. SH:  
a merciless shark:  
Charles Augustus Magnussen  
he turns my stomach  
  
62\. JW:  
I can’t believe it  
there’s a woman on your lap  
and now you’re kissing  
  
63\. SH:  
kissing, proposing,  
breaking hearts without remorse  
it’s all for a case  
  
64\. JW:  
danger addiction:  
why does everything always  
have to be my fault?  
  
65\. SH:  
did you really think  
I was talking about names  
back on the tarmac?  
  
66\. JW:  
that thing you wanted  
to say: is it the same thing  
I never told you?  
  
67\. SH:  
I had to leave you  
and I wanted to make you  
smile just one more time  
  
68\. JW:  
indeed, I did smile  
while inside I was crying  
to lose you again  
  
  
 _After “His Last Vow”:  
  
_ 69\. SH:  
I don’t get involved  
Mycroft taught me this maxim  
feelings distract me  
  
70\. JW:  
even your brother  
might be wrong about something  
feelings are human  
  
71\. SH:  
love is dangerous  
in order not to get hurt  
better suppress it  
  
72\. JW:  
love can hurt badly  
but you may have to be hurt  
to know you’re alive  
  
73\. SH:  
we’re both very good  
at concealing our feelings  
who will give up first?  
  
74\. JW:  
let me be the one  
who’s better than Sherlock Holmes  
just once in my life  
  
75\. SH:  
what do you mean by  
being better than myself  
better at what, John?  
  
76\. JW:  
don’t be a dickhead  
we’re talking about feelings  
I’ll tell you something  
  
77\. SH:  
what makes you presume  
I’m ready to hear the things  
you want to tell me?  
  
78\. JW:  
I don’t care a bit  
if you’re ready to hear me  
saying: I love you.  
  
79\. SH:  
John, you are married  
how could you ever be in  
love with your flatmate?  
  
80\. JW:  
best friend, not flatmate,  
whom my wife tried to murder  
guess whom I love more?  
  
81\. SH:  
excuse my silence  
I need some time to process  
what I heard just now  
  
82\. JW:  
don’t take too much time  
because I long to kiss you  
my dearest Sherlock  
  
83\. SH:  
kissing John Watson  
is the best thing in the world  
let’s never stop it  
  
84\. JW:  
kissing Sherlock Holmes  
is the best thing in the world  
let’s never stop it

 

**Author's Note:**

> This started with a little book of haiku about animals I got as a gift and which I simply love! It inspired me to try writing haiku myself, but on my favourite subject, Johnlock. 
> 
> Huge thanks to Loudest Subtext in Television for the beta! Counting syllables in English isn’t as easy as I had imagined ;)


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